Moon Craft Mobile for Kids

I’ve mentioned before that Tinker is fascinated by the moon and stars. If it’s dark before her bedtime, then she loves to go out to say goodnight to them before I tuck her into bed. She’s also a very inquisitive child, full of wonder and amazement at the night sky. When I was approached by the author of Mother, What is the Moon? with the opportunity to share a brand new children’s picture book about the night sky, I immediately new Tinker would love it, and I’m sure your little ones will, too.

After reading the book together we were inspired to create our own moon craft to display in the girls’ bedroom. Read on to find out more about this great book and the craft we made.

About Mother, What is the Moon?

This delightful book is a bedtime story for young kids. Like Tinker, David Griswold was fascinated by the night sky as a child. During a poetry class at Yale, David was inspired to write about the moon, “this mysterious white orb in the evening sky: the way it changed, the way it pulls on us, the way it appears and disappears but is always there.”

Years later he and illustrator Eliza Reisfeld honor the inquisitiveness of young children and the family members who seek to help them understand in this beautifully illustrated and well written book . To create the images and metaphors for this book, Griswold reached back into his own childhood memories of staring up at the sky, and the simple myths shared among friends and family. You can read even more about the book, see full color page samples, and watch a video about how the book was developed on the Mother, What is the Moon? page.

How to Make a Moon Mobile

Since it’s almost summer and the moon doesn’t appear until long after the girls are in bed (most nights, anyway), I thought it would be fun to create a moon craft that we could use as a mobile in the girls’ bedroom. We started by purchasing some yellow paint, white paint, flour, fishing line, needles, and a Styrofoam ball. If you shop at craft stores, be sure to grab the 40% or 50% off coupons in your Sunday paper. You can get the ball at a great price that way.

To transform our ball into a moon, we used the same process from themoon craftwe made while learning about the night sky. We started by using the ends of our paintbrushes to make craters all over the surface of the “moon.” You’ll want brushes or objects that make craters in assorted sizes.

Then prepare the paint by mixing 2 parts flour to 1 part white paint. (This is a rough estimate. Just make sure the paint is think enough to add texture to the moon.)

We propped our ball up on a yogurt cup lid so that it wouldn’t roll around. Then the girls took turns. One held a paint brush in the top of the ball so that it would stay still while the other child painted the moon. They alternated until the moon was covered to their liking. Then we left it to dry overnight.

Next we cut apart some thin cardboard boxes from our recycling bin. I gave the girls an assortment of yellow and gold glitter paints and they painted the cardboard.

Once the cardboard was dry I lined two pieces back to back and cut out star shapes. I lined the two pieces up to be sure that the stars were the same exact shape so they would hang the right way in the finished mobile. You could also use a star punch if you have a large one.

Next I cut fishing line to the size we wanted for our mobile about 12-15 inches. I threaded the fishing line through a needle and tied the end. We used four strands of fishing line, but you can modify your mobile based on the number of stars you have.

Then we worked together to attach the stars with double-sided tape.

When all the stars were attached we pressed the needles into the bottom of the finished moon and secured them with hot glue. We also made an extra strand of fishing line and attached it to a needle. That extra needle was pressed into the top of the moon and hot glued so that we could use it to hang the mobile. Ours hangs well with the one needle, but if you are worried about it being too heavy, you could try using three needles and strands of fishing line at the top of the moon.

We’re all thrilled with how the mobile turned out. Tinker falls asleep with a flashlight, and she’ll love putting a spotlight on their new creation as she drifts off to sleep at night. It will be perfect to gaze at after we’ve finished reading Mother, What is the Moon? together.

Learn More About Mother, What is the Moon?

You can learn more about this new book via the following websites and social media channels.

What an adorable craft! I love it. My kiddos have been asking to learn about the moon, stars, and clouds again. Perhaps sometime soon. I’m definitely pinning this activity. Thank you so much for sharing!